Page 20: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Jul/Aug 2018)

19 21

TANKER LOGISTICS ike every other business, raw materials, re? ned prod- Irrespective of the levels of oil prices, it’s tough to argue with ucts and petrochemicals, are undergoing unprecedented the logic of cost savings, as supply chains across cargo gener-

L waves of digitalization. However, shipping is one link- ating businesses have been digitized. In liner shipping, with age, albeit an important one, within the much bigger supply high valued cargoes and market concentration on the carrier chains for crude oil and products. But cargo is king, raising side, there has been a recent push to advance further on steps an important question: Will future efforts to link ship charter- towards automating commercial processes. INTTRA, a suc- ing, and ship brokerage, into oil company supply chains come cessful online booking venue developed by the carriers more from the charterer side – that is, oil companies developing be- than ten years ago, has now, nearly two decades after its forma- spoke systems – rather than from the brokers or their service tion, been making a push towards real supply chain integration. providers infusing an online component into ship brokerage? In drybulk chartering, Australian iron ore charterer BHP Bil- liton has been deploying online inquiries for routine standard-

DIGITALIZATION: TANKSHIPS SEARCH FOR THEIR NICHE ized Capesize chartering inquiries, with a stated objective of

As the thinking goes, processing of data, by machines, us- reducing ship-brokerage commissions, but also driving a move ing algorithms (repeatable ways of handling inputs) and ap- towards counterparties meeting more rigorous standards. But, plying arti? cial intelligence (where the machine may “learn” if INTTRA and BHP Billiton are pointing to the way forward from its previous efforts), is more ef? cient than employing for tanker logistics, then certainly, we are not yet there.

humans to process paper. With these ef? ciencies, through au- tomating processes, comes savings of costs. In the oil busi- SOLUTIONS EMERGE AND EVOLVE nesses, a major driver has been the (relatively) low prices of Inside of companies, on the operational side, established vessel oil and products, following the late 2014-2015 price collapse. management companies and arms of large owners have stream-

Looking at the oil business, consultants McKinsey (in market- lined their processes. Consider, for example, Bernhard Schulte ing efforts aimed at large entities on the cargo side of the busi- Ship Management (BSSM) which has created an entire compa- ness) note that fat has been squeezed out of purchasing during the ny, called MariApps, to market a maritime Enterprise Resource recent cycle. They say, “Many services and equipment purchases Planning (ERP) package to other shipowners, for the purpose currently are outsourced to a variety of providers, which results of optimizing vessel management. The marketplace recently in complexity and a fragmented supplier base. Multiple oil? eld learned of a new initiative by the Italian owner d’Amico (in con- services and equipment (OFSE) companies are now bringing junction with Class Society RINA and communications provider these services in-house, with integrated offerings reducing coor- Telemar), to collect data for optimizing vessel performance. dination costs. This can lead to savings of as much as 30 percent.” Class NK has launched its “Internet of Ships” platform, and at-

But, where, exactly, does tanker shipping ? t into this missive? tracted the large Japanese carrier NYK. These ? rms, whose ? eets

Tanker buildup in eastern Mediterranean showing a Signal Maritime vessel. Source: MarineTraff c.com 20 Maritime Logistics Professional July/August 2018 | | 18-31 MLP JulyAug18.indd 20 18-31 MLP JulyAug18.indd 20 8/7/2018 3:54:56 PM8/7/2018 3:54:56 PM